Michigan citizens have been deprived once of voting on wolf hunting. Now, state legislators are poised again to make an end run around voters.

MLive Media Group is calling on elected officials to resist hijacking the public process a second time and allow voters in November to decide whether wolf hunting should be controlled by the Legislature or by a commission appointed by the governor.

The Board of Canvassers recently approved “citizen initiated legislation” pushed by the pro-hunt side that would reaffirm the ability of the Natural Resources Commission to designate game animals and establish hunts. The NRC was given this authority through a law passed in early 2013 as an underhanded way to circumvent a vote on wolf hunting — a referendum supported by hundreds of thousands of citizens.

The measure now heads to the Legislature, which is on summer break but could return to approve or enact it, which would nullify two anti-hunt issues already set for the November ballot. The new law would also be shielded from a future referendum, because it contains an appropriation.

If lawmakers do not act, all three proposals — two against, one for a wolf hunt — would appear on the ballot, allowing voters to have the final say.

For once, we are asking lawmakers to do nothing.

At this time, we’re not arguing for or against a wolf hunt. What we are calling for is an ethical, democratic process.

The process that led to the 2013 wolf hunt was neither.

Supporters of the citizen-initiated legislation argue that wildlife management should be based on “sound science,” yet the NRC, which they want to be in charge of such decisions, is made up of political appointees, not scientists. In fact, the only biologist on the seven-member panel last year was the lone vote against the wolf hunt.

Further, an MLive.com investigation last fall found government half-truths, falsehoods and skewed statistics distorted arguments for the hunt.

Examples:

The NRC deleted or never opened more than 10,000 emails during the public comment period — emails, it was later found, that overwhelmingly opposed the hunt.

A horrifying story included in a Senate resolution to remove wolves from protected status — that they were threatening a day care — never happened. The senator who introduced it later apologized.

Of the 158 cattle losses due to wolves from 2010-13, 96 were from one problematic farmer with a history of poor wildlife management. That misleading number was used to argue for a hunt.

Considering these facts, voters should be given the opportunity to decide whether they want the NRC to be the final authority on hunting wolves and other game species, or whether that power should remain with the Legislature, where citizens retain the ability to reverse decisions they disagree with.

Lawmakers: Don’t deny Michigan citizens their voice yet again.

This is the opinion of the editorial board of MLive Media Group, the parent company of MLive.com. The board is made up of the company’s executive leadership, content directors and editors who oversee the 10 local markets that make up MLive Media Group.